Zalgiris Kaunas rolls past visiting Brose Bamberg

Zalgiris Kaunas registered its third win of the season, defeating visiting Brose Bamberg 86-72 at Zalgirio Arena on Thursday. With the win, the Lithuanian champion improved to 3-6, while Brose dropped to 2-7. Thanks to 4 second-quarter triples from Kevin Pangos, the hosts went into halftime up 47-39, then in the third quarter doubled that advantage to 71-55. On the night, Zalgiris set season-highs with 11 three-pointers and 19 offensive rebound, and was a near-perfect 17 of 18 from the free throw line. Paulius Jankunas collected 23 points and 9 rebounds, Kevin Pangos finished 6-for12 from long range for 19 points and 6 assists, and Leo Westermann scored 10 in victory. Daniel Theis had 15 points, Janis Strelnieks 14, and Fabien Causeur 12 in defeat.

Baskets were few and far between in the opening minutes of the game before the teams combined to hit 2 triples apiece on consecutive possessions – Pangos and Westermann for the hosts, Causeur and Patrick Heckmann for Bamberg. Causeur scored 9 points in the first eight minutes as Bamberg grabbed the lead and remained ahead 18-22 after the first quarter. With the teams trading baskets early in the second, the margin reached 6 points before Zalgiris started to make a run. Arturas Milaknis hit a three-pointer and Lukas Lekavicius made a circus shot in the lane to give Zalgiris a 29-28 edge, before a pair of close range baskets from Brock Motum capped a 13-2 run that gave the hosts a 35-30 advantage. What followed in the final 2:30 of the half was a Pangos three-point show. Pangos hit 4 threes in that span, including a buzzer beater over Theis to make it 47-39 at halftime. Pangos hit his sixth triple to open the third quarter, and Jankunas added one of his own to help open a 55-39 lead two minutes into the second half. Causeur sparked
Bamberg’s offense and Theis had a pair of dunks for the visitors, but Zalgiris remained with a cushion thanks to a Motum floater, before Lima had a dunk and Westermann got a shooter’s roll on a three-pointer to open a 71-53 cushion. Bamberg tried to make a push, with Strelnieks scoring a three-point play and Darius Miller hitting a triple with a hand in his face to cap a 2-10 run and get within 73-63. But the visitors could not do more than that, as they were held scoreless for almost four minutes. Westermann’s jumper made it 79-63 midway through the fourth, as Zalgriris closed it out.

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS

Zalgiris Kaunas

"I am very happy, we beat an excellent basketball team. Bamberg with Coach Trinchieri is playing one of the most attractive and smartest basketball in Europe the last two years, and it is difficult to beat these types of teams. I am very happy for our guys. We are playing good offensively lately. When we dial in the game plan defensively, we can hurt many teams. A lot of time we did not do it, but it was enough. We can improve defensively. Pangos’s three-pointers changed the game a lot. Kevin was due for this type of game. He works so hard. I think he was missing a lot of shots because he was trying too hard."

TRINCHIERI, ANDREA

Brose Bamberg

"Congratulations to Zalgiris. A fully deserved win. We were blown out. It can happen. It should not happen. The key was clear, their 42-21 advantage in rebounds. All other stats and topics are secondary. We did not have the right energy, the right physical impact to play this game. We started well, but you cannot survive on the road only with good percentages. As soon as our three-point percentage dropped, Zalgiris made a run and that was the key of the game. On every key possession, we did not grab a rebound, made a stupid foul, did not get a loose ball, and with this it is hard to survive in the EuroLeague this season. "

Players

JANKUNAS, PAULIUS

Zalgiris Kaunas

"It was an intensive game. Bamberg always plays very well. We tried to be aggressive against them. Coach said if we win the rebounding battle, we will have a chance to win. We did that, and won. "

PANGOS, KEVIN

Zalgiris Kaunas

"I thought we played pretty well, but we did not play perfect at all. But we played hard. There are still things we can get better with. But the win is what matters, we got it, so that is good. It is a 40-minute game and a lot of factors to go into that. My threes are part of [the win], but the team played a good second half as well, so credit goes to everyone. I am trying to do whatever the team needs me to do. It is not about individual stats. I want to help the team and I feel I was not doing that at the start of the season. Slow to get there, and there are a lot of things to fix. But I think this team has a bright future. We are getting better each day."

HECKMANN, PATRICK

Brose Bamberg

"Kaunas played a lot tougher than us. They rebounded the ball, defended, took us out of our pace. They played with more energy overall and we cannot let that happen. It was an important game for us, and we can never come out like this again out of the locker room, and play soft without energy."